Your "rights" are a privilege. You are law abiding, the you can enjoy your shell. But it can go away when you show no respect. This thread was dealing with orange tip laws. But here is a truth. Yes you have your lawyers, as do I, but you show respect and you will find that you will be treated in kind. You have lose my respect for just stepping up on you soap box and preach about 4th amendment rights. It is this simple, you act like a punk, and the cops, D.A., and the judge will be against you. And the old statement is they will find something to charge you.

I was told that you do start issues. I thought we could come to a passing, but that seems not to me the case.

Be a rude, stubborn, closed eyed person and you will see how many ears and hand stay away from you.

I still don't get how somehow not bending over for a police officer entails not respecting them? It is well within your rights as a citizen to refuse a warrant less search, to use the fifth amendment, and to respect the fourth. I don't understand how exercising our Constitutional rights is "acting like a punk". I also don't understand how exercising those rights somehow means that the entire justice system is now against you? Is our country so completely corrupt that the laws do not hold the lawgivers anymore???

And Slim, Cops isn't real life, its Reality TV. It is not a simple thing to get a warrant, and the officer who tries to get one by saying "Well sir, the person driving the car told me no when I asked to search it even though I had no probable cause or reasonable suspicion" is going to get laughed at and not get the warrant. You also seem to be laboring under the assumption that Cops have power equal to the almighty, they don't. It is not a crime to simply exercise your rights, and people that seem to think it is are doing a disservice to those rights.

_________________Gold Team I am a bit of a jerk.There have been a lot of games since the last fatality. Roses are red, violets are blue, so is your car at 102

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that E1 Operator doesn't give a wet slap, hoot, or holler what anyone else thinks about him.

Many police departments are FULL of nepotism and corruption. It is not unheard of for a bag of weed to magically appear in your car after refusing a vehicle search from a highschool jock on a power trip. On the flip side, there are many officers who know the law and respect it. When it comes down to it your life is basically in the hands of the guy who pulls you over, and it's up to you to gauge the situation and decide how to proceed.

If you are asked to exit the vehicle, but you have done nothing wrong:

1. Do not physically resist. Then you have to deal with the cop acting in self defense, etc, which can turn ugly.2. Roll up your windows3. Exit the vehicle4. Lock the doors5. Ask if you are free to go; if not, find out why.

If you are asked to consent to a search of your vehicle... some departments consider this to be probable cause for a search, but THAT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Illegally obtained evidence can easily be thrown out in a court of law. I know several people who were pulled over, searched illegally, and were found to have drugs in the car. They were obviously arrested, but were never actually charged once their lawyers discovered the drugs were discovered via illegal searches. Refer back to my previous paragraph: Gauge the situation and pick your battles. There is nothing wrong with using your rights, just don't be surprised if you have a hassle because of it.

Food for thought: If George Washington (and company) had simply paid their tea taxes, would we be British or American?

I know several people who were pulled over, searched illegally, and were found to have drugs in the car. They were obviously arrested, but were never actually charged once their lawyers discovered the drugs were discovered via illegal searches.

For those interested, this is known as the, Fruit of the poisonous tree. Also, any time you consent to anything, the ability to challenge the results in court almost always vanishes.

Ok. Let me put it to you like this unless you are on the street actually dealing with crime and actually know whats going on you can not comment on this by saying no they are not. I speak from personal experience, and convictions in criminal court. I highly doubt you can say anything near the same....

Echo1 Operator wrote:

You aren't required to tell a police officer about weapons in your vehicle. It's none of their business.

Actually you are supposed to. If you held a SC CWP ( Concealed weapons permit) you would know you are to state you have a firearm in the car, where its at, and do exactly what you are told to do for your safety.

I am all for the law abiding citizen to carry, and use firearms. The more of a hard time you give a law enforcement officer the worse off you will be. Ask any police officer. If you don't say you have a gun in the car and they see it you will have a gun pointing at you and possibly forced out of the car. Officer safety comes first. The more honest you are the better off it is for you.

Echo1 Operator wrote:

Having guns in your car or refusing a search isn't PC.

Actually having a firearm in your car is enough in the City of Columbia. I have also made a state charge on someone for unlawful carry of a pistol. SC code of law 16-23-20. The city code is much more open on enforcement than state as well.

Yes you can refuse a search, and there is nothing wrong with that. Though doing it with a poor attitude can get you in trouble depending on where you are at. So if you do you need to be very VERY nice and professional to the officer. Telling him to F off, or some other type of lewd, boisterous, or fighting words can wind you in jail depending on the circumstances around it. Always be professional the incident location is NOT the place to argue. We have a court system for that reason. If you have been wronged there are many ways to get your justice in court.

buttontk wrote:

and never think that the police officer is on your side.

Really man? The police are on your side unless you are doing an act which the state, or the city has deemed to be unlawful. Otherwise Police are on your side.

In all honesty If I see someone driving with full tac gear on, and I ask them if there is anything that could be a threat to my safety such as fire arms or knives in the car, and they tell me they have been playing paintball/ airsoft, and they do have items xyz in the car. As long as you are truthful, your explanation makes sense, and you don't have a warrant or something you will be given a warning( By law we have to give you a warning ( It doesn't have to be on paper by state law, but most departments require you to write one) even if it's a contact only warning ( meaning we just talked to you about it ) and sent on your way. Both you and the officer will have met each other conducted their business and left safely from the incident.

The LAST thing we want is more bad publicity to the sport because some moron decided to act stupid with his airsoft gun and got shot over it.

buttontk wrote:

Miranda Rights specifically state that what you say "Can and Will be used AGAINST you in a court of law" Never for, only against.

This is true by miranda only, but we do have a legal obligation to put all evidence forward both positive and negative. The actual ruling name eludes me at the moment. I'm almost certain it outlines the name in a rule 5 request.

buttontk wrote:

In the mean time, How do you know if any passengers with you are not carrying something illegal(Which you will be charged with) or if someone may have put something in your car.

I highly suggest you don't let people in your vehicle that do anything or associate with that type of stuff. Second you are responsible for anything that is in your vehicle regardless of if you know about it or not. As soon as you take a vehicle onto a public road you are agreeing that you will adhere to all the federal, state, and municipal codes. Some of which means you have to control all items in your possession in your car.

buttontk wrote:

Tl:Dr Cops are NEVER your friends when it comes to a traffic stop, Never say anything, Never Admit anything, and above all else, ALWAYS refuse a warrant less search.

The best advice would be act professional, and don't try to be a 1 minute lawyer in these situations. Unless you study and enforce law on a daily basis you don't know it at all. No matter how much you think you do. Code of laws change on a daily basis, and so do the elements to the codes.

I am in no way trying to be a jerk, or belittle anyone. Giving bad advice when you clearly don't know what you are talking about doesn't help anyone this will lead to someone getting hurt or getting into trouble because of something ignorant someone said on the internet. Not every law enforcement officer is out to get you. In fact most would rather everything be very simple and send you on your way.

Unless you live in a really really bad place you probably wont get anything further than the ticket/warning for the violation you may have done. Most of the time officer will drop tickets if you talk to them after the fact and have corrected the issue. ( such as defective equipment, or car paperwork issues )

Here is also a bit of info. You can be taken to jail for any offense you do that it put on a blue uniform traffic ticket. So yes you can be taken to jail for a tail light being out. NO ONE ever does this though. I would expect if this happened and the officer couldn't articulate why it was so important to take someone to jail over a tail light the judge would drop the case and civil action could possibly be taken.

Next time you see a law enforcement officer rather than thinking he is out to only go after you tell him that you appreciate his hard work and thank him for putting his life on the line every day. You may find out 99.9% of cops really do like the general public, and that they would do anything to protect you.

The police are on your side unless you are doing an act which the state, or the city has deemed to be unlawful. Otherwise Police are on your side.

Not all of law enforcement do things by the book, and it's foolish to think otherwise. What one officer lets slide, the other could just as easily cite/charge you for it. In any interaction with law enforcement, you need to remind yourself that anything you do can be used against you in court. It is their duty to enforce the law, not become friends. Having said that, it doesn't help the situation to antagonize an officer. I'm all for utilizing those little things called your rights, but there is a proper way to do it.